Dinner for R Part III: Wild Mushroom Lasagna

I am very fond of this dish, and have made it many times, with various mushroom assortments. It is adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, by the brilliant Deborah Madison. I am particularly attached to this and another, newer one of Ms. Madison's excellent cookbooks. Her recipes and her sensibility are first rate. The new book is the much slimmer Vegetarian Suppers . A woman after my own heart.

Suppers are quite different from dinners, and are a fine institution. They are what I have most evenings, and what I generally want at the end of the day. A dinner is a more elaborate thing entirely. I love a dinner party, but I don't want to make one or go to one every night. A supper, even supper with company to feed, however, is just right, on a regular basis.

Ms. Madison does a fine job of explaining the difference between the two, and advising on the construction of suppers. She also offers a bunch of interesting, satisfying supper recipes. This is really cooking for everyone. Non-vegetarians won't notice the absence of meat, but vegetarians will be well pleased to dine with you. I am happy to report that this book continues the laudable trend in cookbook publishing toward the wipe-clean cover. I applaud this development , as a cook prone to exciting spillage and splatter events.

While lasagna is a fine dinner main course, it is a bit much, preparation wise, for most suppers. But it can be made ahead, and a modest serving would certainly be a satisfying supper with just a bit of salad. Since we were having a dinner party, I served it with my daughter's excellent ratatouille, from Ruth's Kitchen, and also with beans with greens. If you can, it is very nice to have a bit of one kind of special mushrooms to include, along with your cultivated and dried ones. I used enokis this time. They tasted good, and looked interesting, too.

This is what you need:
1-2 oz dried mushrooms, soaked for 1/2 hour in 1 cup hot water
bechamel sauce, made with 2 1/2 cups milk, 4 tbsps butter, 4 tbsps flour and some nutmeg
2 lbs fresh mushrooms, mixed
chopped parsley
1/4 cup olive oil
4 tbsps butter
3 chopped garlic cloves, 3/4 cup grated pecorino romano
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound of Barilla no-boil lasagna noodles

Make your bechamel first. Melt butter over low heat and heat milk gently. Whisk flour into butter, then slowly add warm milk, still whisking. Keep whisking over low heat until smooth. Grate fresh nutmeg over. Let the sauce cook very gently over a low flame, while you work on the fresh mushrooms. Chop your fresh and dried mushrooms, and as you do so, pull out some of the horsier looking stems, and toss them in with the bechamel as it cooks. Once you have chopped all the mushrooms, pour the dried mushroom soaking water through a coffee filter into the bechamel, stirring well to combine. Saute the mushrooms in batches in the oil and butter, salting and peppering them well. When they are nicely done, toss them with the parsley and garlic in a bowl.

Remove the stems from the now beige bechamel and discard. Butter a baking pan, about 9"X14" Layer noodles to cover, bechamel, mushrooms and cheese alternately, ending on top with the final noodles, sauce and cheese. Be sure that all the noodle surfaces are well covered with sauce, so that they will soften before any crisping of edges. Bake in a preheated 400F oven, covered with foil, for 25 minutes. Uncover, and cook 20-25 minutes more, until the lasagna begins to brown and bubble. Let it settle for 15 minutes before serving.

This is actually best cooked ahead and then refrigerated or frozen, and reheated. You will have to bring it to room temperature first and watch it carefully while reheating it, to make sure it doesn't dry out, but it is well worth the little bit of extra attention. I love this stuff and will be having the last square for supper tomorrow night.

Comments

[chubby cat]

Hi Lindy,
The wild mushroom lasagne looks and sounds deliciously divine. I'm certainly tempted to try it.

[deccanheffalump]

Lindy this sounds really good. The trouble is we only get button mushrooms and dried oyster mushrooms here. Would they work instead of wild mushrooms or would it turn out tasteless ?

[lindy]

Thanks c.c., let me know if you do, and how it was. deccanheffalump: I don't think it would be tasteless at all.
I use the anonymous dried mushrooms in a barrel from the local Italian emporium, plus mostly cultivated fresh mushrooms.
I can only throw in a small amount of fresh wild or unusual mushrooms , because they are so expensive.They add a nice touch, but I think it would work fine with what you have.
Also, I neglected to mention that this is really fabulous made with sheets of homemade pasta, if you are feeling ambitious!

[Ana]

This lasagna sounds delicious. I love a good vegetarian dish. I also have "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" and I've tried from there a delicious Portobello Stew with polenta.

[Sheri Lindsay]

This sounds great I'm having a girly night and you can guess what I'll be cooking.